Furnace port and method of operating the same



April 23, 1929. T wlLsQN 1,710,282

FURNACE PORT AND METHOD OF OPERATING THE SAME Filed Feb. 2, 1922 2 Sheets-Sheet l l? if INVENTOR Y'om Wzlsofz ATTORNE April 23, 1929. T. wlLsoN 1,710,282

FURNACE PORT AND METHOD O F OPERATING THE SAME Filed Feb. 2, 1922 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Tom W i?" Patented Apr. 23, 1929.

UNITED STATES PATENT ,orme-'5.

TOM WILSON, OF'PHILADEIiRHIA, PENNSYLVANIA, ASSIGNOR TO BETHLEHEM vSTEEL COMPAN A CORPORATION- OF l PENNSYLVANIA.

FURNGE roar AND' METHOD or OPERATING 'rmi sans.

Applicationrled February2, 1922. Serial. No. 583,517.

My invention relates to the construction of heating, melting or other 4furnaces with special reference tothe portA constructlon thereof, but for the sake of simplicity of description and illustration, I will herein refer to its use in connection with an open hearth steel melting furnace, but wish it understood that it is equally applicable to other typesvof furnaces an the port constructions thereof. One of the objects of my invention is to so design and arrange the ports and ends of the furnace that they will not be destroyed by the heat of the outgoinu' gases, and; one' of the means which I provide to this'v effect is to make ythe constructions such that the vexit ports are of much larger-size and area than those which supply the combustibles to the other end, and the portsare also adjustable -in size.

In accordance with my construction the inlet ports which supply air and combustible gases to the furnace are of smaller area than the exit ports, andthe air and gas are traversed through tl'ieentering ports at a comparatively high velocityy and in such a way as to prov-ide a thorough mixture thereof and conse uently prompt combustion with the resultant igh temperature, and by means of my construction the inlet of gases can'be so arranged as to'produce a shorter flame so that the hot part or apex of tlieilamc does not impinge against the outgoing end of the'furnace, which thereby prevents the destruction of the same. As' aresult of this construction the gases are burped in an economical manner and av considerable economy of fuel is obtained. Another advantage of my construction. is that the outgoing ports, `which may be of large ar a, asbefore 4o stated, do not throttle the il w of gases through the furnace, and also allow the gases to be thoroughly burned and .expanded within the furnace and permit the products of combustion to escape quickly therefrom.

My construction is also such that the outgoing products of 'combustion do lnot impinge against the entering gas ports, for the reason that these parts' of the construction are so arranged that they are lifted upwardly ,to and out of the line of travel of the outgoing 'gases at the exit end.

furnace is of the regenerative or re guperative type and subject to the usualsrefv'ersing ow of gases therein; for example,

the combustible gases are delivered at one end of the furnace and mixed there and form a llame which passes intothe furnace, and at this time the products of combustionv passrout at the other`end,'and afterY a suitable interval of time the flow `of gases is reversed as is customary. The air and combustible gases, as vabove stated, are preferabl heated b regenerators or recuperators 1n the usua way and the reversall may be accomplished by any of the Well-known means for this purpose.

As a result of my construction the :action of the furnace' is Jery ripid, either for melt ing or heating, and I 'can use in it producer gas, which ordinarily is` regenerated, or if 'desired I may use natural gas, coke oven gas, oilgas or other gases ofhigh calorifc power, which do not need 'to be regenerated or reheated. l Y y he adjustable orts of my furnace are preferably made o metal and water cooled. and seated upon or against fixed portions of the-constructibn, which may also be watercooled, i

Having thus given a general description of my invention, I will now, in order to make the mattei'- more clear, refer tol the annexed sheet of drawings, which forms part of this specification, and, in which like characters refer to like parts :-V A

. Figure 1 is a vertical longitudinal sectional elevation of an open hearthfurnace with the central portion broken away, illus trating the application of my invention, taken on the line I-I of Figure 2; Figure 2 is a horizontal sectional plan taken on the line II--II of F igure l; Figure 3 is a transverse sectional elevation taken on the linev lon. the line VI--VI of F igure; Figure 7 'is a transverse sectional plan taken on the line tVII-l-VII of Figure 6, andl Figure 8 is Referring now to the characters of refer-- ence on the drawings 1 indicates the furnace as a whole, 2 is the hearth and 3 the roof thereof. Thethroats or mixing cham-- bers at each end of the furnace are 4, into which the mixed gases first issue at the entering end and through which the products of combustion pass at the other end.

As illustrated vin Figures 1, 2, 3 and 4, I provide a ported slide 5 having ports or openings 6 therein, whichk is preferably made of metal construction and operates in a groove or slideway 7, which guides it in its up and down movement, these slides being water-cooled,I and provided with pipe connections 8 for supplying water thereto and exhausting the same therefrom, which water may be furnished from any convenient source. The pipes 8 may also be connected to means for raising and lowering them to thereby regulate the position of the slides either in their up or down position, or in intermediate positions as desired. At each end of the furnace,as shown in Figures 1, 2 and 3, I provide two burners 9, whichare also of metal plate, provided with beveled lower surfaces 10, adapted to be seated on the seats 11 of the water-cooled seat rings l12,*which are mounted on the brickwork at the ends of the gas channels, as

shown. 13 are the water-cooling circulat-l ing pipes connected to the hollow seat rings 12,'and 14 are the water pipes connected to vthe burners 9, which pipes 14 may also be used to raise and lower -the'burners as may' be desired. At each end of the furnacev I provide a somewhat roomy air chamber 15, built in the brickwork thereof and communi'- cating vtherewith are the air channels. 16,

whichumay beV connected to the usual air rec uperatorl or regenerator, reversing valves andother customary iiues 'and constructions. I also provide a gas inlet channel 17, which may beconnected to the' gas regenerator or recuperator, gas reversing valve and other customarypflue's. In front of the slides 5 I preferably arrange a water-cooled box 18 provided with water-circulating pipes .19, andy these serve to further protect the slides and other adjacent portions of the furnace.

The slide illustrated in F igures 1, 2, 3 and 4 is made in one piece, having openings or ports 6 therein adjacentto the gas burners 9, so that when the slide is raised all portions thereof move simultaneously in order to regulatethe flow of gases.

As illustrated in Figures 5, 6-and 7, the slides at each end of the furnace are made in them in any manner similar to that previqusly described. yIn this case, however, the 4water-cooled seat ring 24 is provided -with a fiatside and a burner 9`is provided with a'corresponding flat bottom 23 to be seated thereon.

As illustrated in Figures 6, 7 and 8; 25 are air inlet channels which connect the air regenerators or the recuperators with air chambers 15.

' As illustrated in Figure 8, the slides 2() are made in three sections in order to accommodate two burners 9 at each end of the furnace, and these may also be regulated separately for the purpose of controlling the gas flow Aas desired.

The tvater supply to the cooling and lifting pi es may be furnished from any source, and t e pipes which lift and lower the slides and burnersmay be operated by any suitable mechanism, while the customary slag pockets, reversing valves, 'regulating valves, connecting flues, etc., may be used, although the details thereof are not illustrated or described herein; v

It should also be noted,as illustrated in Figure 2, that I show one wide air channel at each end of the furnace, whereas in Figure 6 I show two of these, 25, at each end,

.s and while the gas ports and seats of Figures 1, 2, 3 and 4 are round in their outline, those of Figures 5, 6, 7 and 8 are rectangular.

AOther advantages of my construction are that the gas burners are movable and none of the waste gases or products of combustion from the furnace have to pass through the restricted openings of the gas burners, and when the gas burners and slides are lifted'into their high position lar e outlet areas are provided for the assage o the outgoing gases. When the s ides are down lor partly down they are so arranged as to restrict the openings for the incoming air and toy concentrate thisv air over and around the burners, thus providing a better mixture and l better combustion. When the slides and burners are in their, high position the area for the outgoing gases is substantially the entire width of the furnace, which, therefore, inaddition to providing a large outlet i at that end is also in its lower position, while the corresponding parts at the'other end of the furnace are raised and in a position such that the outgoing products of combustion cannot contact with them, and they are. thereby free from the possibility of damage .right hand flue 16 into the chamber 15 and thence passes over the furner 9 and around its sides and mixes with the heated gases issuing from the burner, and the mixture then issues into the furnace -with high velocity and rapid combustion at once ensues. f 20 can be raised a little. The lproducts of combustion then pass downwardly through the left hand channels 16 and 17 to the air and gas regenerators or recuperators respectively and heat them prior to the reversal of the flow.

As illustrated in Figures 5, 6, and 7, the slides 20 may be operated independently, and if more air is' needed at one side of the furnace than at the other, the slide at that side can be opened to admit more air, and this is similarly true of the construction shown in Figure 8, in which any of the slides 2O can be arranged in any position desired to admit the amount of air deemed necessary. The control of the amount of gas is regulated, of course, by`the gas valve outside of the furnace as 1s customary. After the operation has proceeded in this manner for the required length of time, the flow in the furnace may be reversed by raising the burner 9 and the slides` 5 or 20 at the right hand side and lowering the burner 9 on its seat at the left hand side and lowering the left hand slides 5 or 20 to any extent as desired, and moving the reversing valves to their other positions, whereupon the operation proceeds in the reverse direction.

The construction'of my furnace is such that a solcalled blow pipe flame is provided whereby a thorough mixture of air and gas is provided and the hottest part of the flame may be arranged to terminate within the hearth of the furnace so that the products of combustion will not destroy the outlet portions. The air also substantially surrounds the gas, thus causing a thorough mixture, while also protecting the ports, roof and other parts as the air is cooler than the regenerated gases.

Although I have described and illustrated my invention in considerable detail, I do not wish to be limited to the exact and specific details thereof, as shown and described, but may use such modifications in, substitutions more air is desired the slide 5or for, or ,e uivalents thereof, as are embraced within t e scope of my invention or as point-ed out in the claims.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is 1. In a reversible regenerative furnace, in combina-tion, acombustion chamber having an opening at each end through which fuel may be introduced or through which products of combustion may escape, a fuel port at each end of the furnace, each such port being movable so that it may be positioned to Vdirect a stream of fuel toward the combustion chamber ormay be withdrawn out of the direct path of the products of combustion, an air supply channel at each end of the furnace leading Atoward said opening, and a damper at each end of the furnace and movable relatively to the fuel port and furnace body so that it may be positioned to direct the stream of infiowing air, toward the stream of inflowing fuel or may be removed from the path of the stream of products of-combustion, the said damper having an aperture formed 'therein' so positioned that the stream of incoming fuel flows directly therethrough when the damper is in its air directing position.'

2. The combination set forth in claim 1 in which the damper is substantially flat and is'disposed in advance of the mouth of the gas port.

3. In a reversible regenerative furnace, in combination, a combustion chamber having an opening at e'ach end through which fuel may be introduced or through which products of combustion may escape, a fuel port at each end of the furnace adapted to discharge fuel adjacent that opening which `for the time being is serving as an inlet, an air supply channel at each end of the furnace 'leading toward said opening, and a damper at each end -of the furnace and movable relatively to the furnace body so that it maybe positioned to direct the stream of inlowing air toward the stream of inflowing fuel or may be removed from the path of the stream of products of combustion, the said damper having an aperture therein comprising a notch in the lower edge thereof so positioned that it lies directly in advance ofthe inllowing -fuel stream, said aperture constituting a restricted port for fuel and air and promoting complete admixture thereof.

4. In a reversible regenerative furnace, in

combination, a combustion chamber havingan opening at each end through which fuel may be introduced or through which products of combustion may escape, .a fuel port lll) at each end of the furnace, each such port being movable so that it may be positioned to direct a stream of fuel toward the combustion chamber or may be withdrawn out of the direct path of the' products of combustion, van air supply channel atv each end of the furnace leading toward said o ening, and a damper at each end of the Furnace and movable relatively to the fuel port and furnace body so that it may be positioned to direct the stream of inlowing air toward products of combustion to the connected regenerator, a fuel 'port positioned in that channel which is for the time being con-- ducting air to the combustion chamber and positioned to discharge fuel toward the combustion chamber, and means for directing the heated air into the stream of fuel, comprising a damper ositioned in said channel and extending rom one side Wall to the other, said damper having a single aperture centrally arranged directly in front ofthe fuel port and extending to the lower edge of the damper through which the fuel is constrained to pass on its Way to the combustion chamber, and being removable from the path vof products of combustion when the furnace is reversed.

6. In a reversible regenerative furnace, in combination, a combustion chamber, regenerators, channels connecting the ends of the vcombustion chamber respectively, tothe re# generators and servingl alternately'as conduitsfor conducting heated air to the combustion chamber or products of combustion to the connected refrenerator, means for introducing a stream ofgaseous fuel under pressure into that channel which for the time being is serving to conduct heated air to the combustion chamber, the gaseous stream moving directly toward the combustion chamber, quick and intimate mixture ofD the gas and heated air, said means com risin a damper provided with an aperture orme as anotch in the lower end thereof and so located that and means for brinring about a..

the stream of gaseous fuel passes directly therethrough without being intercepted therebypand through which the air for combustion is likewise constrained to pass on its ways to the combustion chamber, saidV aperture being of materially less area than plane to a position parallel and adjacent to said 4Wall or to a position to partially block communication between the air portand combustion chamber, the damper when in the first mentioned position lying wholly out of the path of products of combustion.

8. `The combination set forth in claim 7 in which the vertical wall comprises a water cooled metallic shell.

9. An end construction `for open hearth v.regenerative furnaces comprising an air ort communicating there port, a furnace with, the oor o said ports being substantially in the same horizontal plane but the roof of the air port being substantially raised above the roof of the furnace port, a

as uptake opening through the floor of the urnace port, -a water `cooled gas Y port adapted to registerwith the mouth ofthe gasuptake, and means for lifting said gas -port toward the roof'of the air port to a position above they top of the furnace port, in which position it lies out of the direct path ofproducts of combustion.

'10. The" combination set forth in claim 9 in which a Water cooled seat forsaid gas port encircles the mouth of the -gas uptake and rests on the floor of the air port.

In witness whereof I hereunto affix my signature.

'roM WILSON.

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